It has been recognized so far that sound change was not used in order to avoid using a
taboo character. Nevertheless, we find examples that suggest that there was indeed a habit of changing
sounds to avoid using taboo characters in speech. Such sound changes can be seen not only in the
case of state taboo, i.e., avoidance of the given names of emperors, but also in the case of secular
taboo, e.g., sound changes of the vocabularies for genitals practiced in the Buddhist society. Interesting
enough, these sound changes were not a case of temporary substitution but were used as one of
the stable pronunciations of the characters.
The Annual IOM Academic Session “The Written Heritage of the Orient as the Basis for Classical Tradition of Oriental Studies” will be held on December 2–4, 2024.
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